Today's Veterinary Business

OCT 2018

Today’s Veterinary Business provides information and resources designed to help veterinarians and office management improve the financial performance of their practices, allowing them to increase the level of patient care and client service.

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59 October/November 2018 • TODAYSVETERINARYBUSINESS.COM
don't get better. They seem more
understanding about the challeng-
es of diabetes than they do the chal-
lenges of atopy. Having a diagnosis
shrinks your therapeutic options as
well. You can make a pet feel better
with symptomatic care. You can
make a client feel better with symp-
tomatic care — for a while.
With a confirmed diagnosis,
the client can go online and Goo-
gle the diagnosis and not a symp-
tom. And when you can discuss a
specific diagnosis, you can shrink
the treatment options and focus
on educating the client about the
long- and short-term implications
of the disease.
Get Total Buy-In
Your team must be a part of skin
cases. Hold staff meetings to
discuss skin conditions, fleas, ticks,
infections, fungal issues. Share the
results of testing through cultures
or whatever you use to get to the
bottom of a problem. Send staff
members home with the dermato-
logic products you want to dis-
pense and have them report back
on the effectiveness. Your team
members can be advocates and
storytellers for products that you
sell, but only if they try the prod-
ucts first. If team members aren't
happy with an outcome, they can
help keep your inventory under
control as well.
Since your staff will be going
over the products with clients, they
need to know everything about the
treatment: how to apply and how
often, what to look for if it is work-
ing or not, when to call your clinic.
Have your well-educated staff
hand out business cards showing
your clinic's phone number and
email address so clients can easily
report problems or ask questions.
The pet store doesn't do this.
PetMed Express won't do it. Be in
control and give clients an expe-
rience they can't get elsewhere.
Have your staff lead the way, but
educate them first.
Know What to Say
Part of the education is the cre-
ation of scripts or talking points.
The conversation might include:
• "This product is not available
in the pet store because
it includes the strongest
ingredients available for this
condition."
• "I have used this on my own
dog. It was a miracle."
• "The pet store doesn't really
have medicated products.
It may sell some natural
products, but the severity of
the condition warrants and
requires a veterinarian-pre-
scribed medication."
• "We can do the first bath for
you since we use the prod-
ucts here, and then you can
continue at home."
• "The products we sell and
support come with the back-
ing of our team and doctors.
That alone is invaluable and
not available online."
• "We offer only the products
that we find most effective
for this condition."
Know What to Stock
Too much inventory is not too
good. Research into consumer
buying shows that
too many choices is
detrimental to
decision-making.
The internet can be
more confusing than
your practice be-
cause of this. How-
ever, better choices
mean fewer choices.
Veterinary-
specific products
might come with a
higher unit price, but
if you keep your markups under
control, the products can easily
compete with over-the-counter
choices. Better for you to make a
dollar than the internet getting it.
Know What to Endorse
In many dermatologic cases, we
have too many options for treating
the symptoms. Diets, shampoos,
topicals and supplements are just a
few of the non-prescription resourc-
es that your hospital has to offer
and that the internet has as well.
To stay in control of the client
and patient experience, you have
to position yourself as the expert
in patient care. You have to identify
the one product you have found
to be most effective. And if this is
a veterinary-specific product, even
better.
What helps is when the prod-
ucts you offer are used on patients
admitted for bathing, are used by
your employees on their pets, and
are readily available and competi-
tively priced.
Know What to Charge
Which is better, making $5 net on a
product sale or $0 net on a product
sold by somebody else? You net
zero every time a client goes on the
internet or visits a pet store to buy
a product you carry.
Veterinary pricing in many cas-
es has driven consumers to look for
competitive sources of shampoos,
additives and food. And in some
cases when they can't find the ex-
act product you want to dispense,
they buy a less-effective knockoff.
Set up your online store to
provide you with a net for your
product sales and thus a price that
is competitive. Again, what is bet-
ter than nothing? Something.
Don't shoot me when I sug-
gest that you offer a money-back
guarantee. If a product doesn't
work, have the owner return it for
a refund. I would bet that most of
your vendors would support this
100 percent. The pet store and on
-
line merchant likely won't do it. If
you want to be different, think and
act differently.
Know How to Be Different
Try saying this: "We know it is not
easy to stop by here whenever you
need something. You can use our
online store or just let us know, and
then we can mail what you need."
We are in the experience era.
How can you create the client expe-
rience for dermatologics? A clinic's
online store allows competitive
pricing, the convenience of order-
ing at any hour and home delivery.
Have you considered a sub-
scription service? If you know the
client will administer a product
for months on end, why not set
up an auto-delivery program and
discount it? You can truly improve
compliance through convenience
and competitive pricing. This works
for over-the-counter, veterinary
channel and prescription products.
Education, Price and Service
The ideas above only scratch the
surface when it comes to staying
in control of treating skin condi-
tions. Each individual thought can
make a difference, but using them
together will stop you from pull-
ing your hair out and keep your
patients from chewing theirs.
The differentiators in keeping
skin in the skin game are education,
price and service. The more your
team knows and the more your cli-
ents understand, the more likely a
pet owner will believe in your prod-
ucts. The more you create a great
experience and a value to support
your pricing, the more likely your
products will be the first choice.
Dr. Peter Weinstein owns PAW Consulting and is executive director of the
Southern California Veterinary Medical Association.
Since your staff will be
going over the products
with clients, they need to
know everything about
the treatment: how to apply and how
often, what to look for if it is working
or not, when to call your clinic.